The sexual practices of BDSM had all previously been listed as potentially problematic by the 5th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but that may just not be true as those tested seemed to be more psychologically healthy than their non-practicing counterparts.

BDSM practitioners "either did not differ from the general population and if they differed, they always differed in the more favorable direction," said study researcher Andreas Wismeijer, a psychologist at Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands who conducted the research while at Tilburg University.

The questionnaire sent out to over 1,300 people referred to personality, sensitivity to rejection, style of attachment in relationships and well-being. Results showed BDSMers were more extroverted, open to new experiences and no more troubled than the general population. They are also less paranoid.

Prior attempts to research the BDSM community included questions inclined to skew toward a negative view of the participants.

People in the BDSM scene also reported higher levels of well-being in the past two weeks than people outside it, and they reported more secure feelings of attachment in their relationships, the researchers found.